Good action movie.. but not that good!

Rating: 5/10 (14 January 2006)

From the man who gave us BAD BOYS 1 & 2, THE ROCK and Armageddon.. Michael Bay is back with another face paced action thriller.. This time, it's set in the not too distant future..
Scarlett Johansson and Ewan McGregor stars as clones who are based in some kind of 'underground bunker'. A facility where these things called 'agnates' are born and breed to become human clones.
As Lincoln Six Echo begin to question about his feelings, his life, his orifice.. He believes that something is not right. As he explores around the facility, there is something more than he bargained for.. The idea of 'The Island' dosen't really seem to exist and Lincoln believes that clones are being killed off as a result.
With a help of a friend McCord (Steve Buscemi), Lincoln begins to realise the truth. So, he takes Jordan Two Delta with him.. as they both head out to the outside world.
Hot on his trail are Albert Laurant (Djimon Hounsou) and his team of 'feds', who is put out by a psychopathic scientist Dr Merrick (Sean Bean) to stop them.
What I find so interesting about this film that Michael Bay is just one of those directors who like to take his audience for a ride. Whether it would be car chases, people running around, maybe a few shootout scenes here and there.. That's Michael Bay's movie direction for you..
Now, what I find was so bad about this film.. I believe Michael Bay has casted the wrong stars in this movie. Having Ewan McGregor..? Well, Ewan is a good actor. I respect him for when he'd appeared in the first Star Wars trilogy as well as the classic Trainspotting. But I didn't feel that Ewan was really up to it. If Micheal Bay was looking for a good actor who could run around, drive a car, shoot guns. Maybe people like Will Smith, Tom Jane, Johnny Depp or even George Clooney would be good to play as Lincoln Six Echo.. Scarlett Johansson? Well, I suppose she would be good as Jordan Two Delta.. Then again, Michael would've considered Angelina Jolie, Carrie Anne Moss or even Uma Thurman.
Another thing was most of the action scenes didn't even start until 50 minutes into the movie.. So, most of the first part of the film dragged on for a while. At that point, my eyes were about to close..
I don't blame Michael Bay for directing this movie which turns out that it flopped at the box office.. I read on this site that the writers for this movie 'blamed' Ewan and Scarlett for letting the movie project down. I guess they were hoping for Michael's film to be another one of his box office money spinner.. But then again, these things always happen.. No one can judge a film if it's going to be a success, when the movie is currently made. A lot of people may've worked hard, tooth and nail for Michael Bay to give it more stamina to get keep his audience in the mood. But unfortunately, this one didn't work out for me..
I must admit, Michael Bay is a great director. No doubt about it. When I saw the featurette, he was saying that he likes to shoot fast and see how well he progresses until the end of the day.. But with The Island, there was some steam coming out of this one. The story of this film may sound good, but I felt that it was a bit over the top really.. The idea of the 'clones' going out of their troubles just to find out who they really are..
It's a shame that we only see Michael Clarke Duncan, Steve Buscemi and a few familiar faces that has worked with Michael Bay on his previous films just for a short amount of time. There wasn't really nothing new to be honest.
But at the end of the day, it was a good film.. But shame that were so many flaws on this one.. Better luck next time, Mr Bay..! 5 out of 10!